January 9, 2017 Open Thread; Martyrs' Day (Panama)

January 9 is the 9th day of the year. There are 356 days left. 

Today's number is 9

9 is the largest single digit integer 9 is the square of a prime and is the second lowest such square

"Casting out nines" is a quick way of testing the calculations of sums, differences, products, and quotients of integers. It was known as long ago as the 12th Century. It is also the basis of a lot of "magic" tricks and puzzles. There used to be some based on the rotary phone dial too. Essentially, They are modulo 9 math.

A number is divisible by 9 if its digital root is 9. A number's digital root is the sum of its digits. If such sum is greater than one digit, then those digits are also summed, etc. Thus the digital root of 18 is 9 (8+1), and the digital root of 456 is 6 (4+5+6 = 15 and 1+5 = 6)

Now the fun: 1/9 = 0.11 followed by an infinite string of 1s 2/9 = 2 x 0.11 to infinity = 0.22 followed by an infinite string of 2s 3/9, of course, is 0.33 fol;lowed by an infinite string of 3s, etc. This brings us to 9/9 = 0.99 followed by an infinite string of 9s, which is also 1. Back in the stoneage, a test of calculators and computers was to perform the operation (1/9)x9 and see if it returned 1 or 0.9999999 etc.

Conversely: 123456789 x 9 = 111,111,111 123456789 x 18 = 222,222,222 (because 18 = 2 x 9) etc up to 123456789 x 72 = 888,888,888 (9 x 8 ) and 123456789 x 81 = 999,999,999 (9 x 9)

9 is the number of lives a domestic cat has 9 is the Jersey number worn by the inimitable Ted Williams. 9 is Fluorine. 9 is Organic: Five-digit produce PLU codes that begin with 9 are organic. A 9 sided polygon is a nonagon, aka an enneagon There are 9 justices on the US Supreme Court

TITLE 9 of the U.S. Code is Arbitration

9 BCE was the Year of the Consulship of Drusus and Crispinus. Nero Claudius Drusus died and Emperor Ping of Han was born.

9 CE was the Year of the Consulship of Sabinus and Camerinus The Rhine river was established as the boundary between the Latin- and German-speaking worlds, following the defeat of the Roman army, under the command of Varus, at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. (Varus again) Italy adopted the Lex Papia Poppaea outlawing celibacy and childless relationships, unlike later under the popes, who favored celibacy, though still abhorring childless relationships. In China, Wang Mang founded the Xin dynasty, which lasted 16 years 

On this day in:

0681 -- The Twelfth Council of Toledo decreed all kinds of twisted shit 1349 -- The people of Basel, rounded up and burnt Basel's Hewish population for causing the Black Plague. 1431 -- Judges in Rouen began preparatory investigations for Joan of Arc's "trial". 1792 -- The Treaty of Jassy between Russian and the Ottoman Empire ended the Russo-Turkish War of 1787-92 and formally recognized the Russian Empire's prior annexation of the Crimean Khanate via the Treaty of Kucuk Kaynarca of 1783  1793 -- The first person flew in a balloon in the US 1816 -- Sir Humphry Davy tested his miner's safety lamp 1822 -- Prince Pedro I of Brazil began the Brazilian independence process. 1839 -- The French Academy of Sciences announced the Daguerreotype photography process. 1857 -- The 7.9 Mw Fort Tejon earthquake rattled Central and Southern California 1858 -- The last President of the Texas Republic committed suicide. 1916 -- The last Allied forces were evacuated from the Gallipoli peninsula 1923 -- The first autogyro flight took place. 1957 -- Sir Anthony Eden resigned after failing to retake the Suez Canal from Egypt. 1960 -- Gamal Abdel Nasser initiated construction of the Aswan Dam 1964 -- Panamanian youths tried to raise the Panamanian flag on the Panama Canal Zone, leading to fighting between U.S. military forces and Panamanian civilians. This is celebrated in Panama as Martyr's Day 1996 -- Chechen separatists lattacked the helicopter field and civilian hospital in the city of Kizlyar, Dagestan 2005 -- Mahmoud Abbas was elected President of the Palestinian National Authority 2005 -- The end of the Second Sudanese Civil War. 2007 -- The original iPhone was iintroduced by iApple's iCEO at iMacWorld

Born this day in:

1728 -- Thomas Warton, poet, historian, and critic 1735 -- John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent, admiral and politician 1859 -- Carrie Chapman Catt, activist, founded the League of Women Voters and International Alliance of Women 1870 -- Joseph Strauss, engineer, co-designer of the Golden Gate Bridge 1890 -- Karel Capek, author and playwright, a tool of Rossum's Universal Robots, he introduced the word robot 1898 -- Gracie Fields, actress and singer 1901 -- Chic Young, cartoonist, sandwich aficionado 1908 -- Simone de Beauvoir, philosopher and author 1913 -- Richard Nixon, not a crook, owned a dog named Checkers, expert on Quemoy & Matsu 1925 -- Lee Van Cleef, angel eyes 1940 -- Al Downing, singer, songwriter, and pianist   1941 -- Joan Baez, singer, songwriter, guitarist, and activist 1944 -- Jimmy Page, guitarist, songwriter, and producer 1948 -- Bill Cowsill, head Cowsill 1951 -- Crystal Gayle, singer, songwriter, and producer 1965 -- Eric Erlandson, guitarist, songwriter, and producer, founding member of Hole 1978 -- A. J. McLean, backstreet boy

Died this day in:

1324 -- Marco Polo, travelling salesman 1848 -- Caroline Herschel, astronomer  1873 -- Napoleon III, 1st President of France 1878 -- Victor Emmanuel II 

Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days and such:                                            Martyrs' Day (Panama) Eastern Orthodox Feast of Stephen

So, for music

Gracie Fields Al Downing Joan Baez Jimmy Page Bill Cowsill Crystal Gayle Eric Erlandson A. J. McLean

Gracie Fields

Al Downing

Joan Baez

Jimmy Page

Bill Cowsill

Crystal Gayle

Eric Erlandson

A. J. McLean

OK, what's on your minds?

Crossposted from caucus99percent.com